Masala Digital
Marketing Masala for the Digital Age
The “Viral” Mystery
Author: Masala Admin11 Aug
Ever wondered how agencies & clients alike are completely nuts about the “viral” phenomenon? Agency cant produce enough and clients can’t ask enough – anyone with an iota of an online marketing budget never fails to mention “can we have a viral along with the banner campaign”?!
What’s the deal here? How can you possibly “create” a viral? Aren’t virals supposed to be “ideas”, rather than brand communication? I thought a good communication “became” a viral basis its spread-quotient – and if its an eDM or a video, its just easier to spread around…
Anyway, so there is Webchutney, the supposed “viral pioneers” as they love to call themselves…with this new Center Fresh viral
While the overall concept is nice..crass, but funny nevertheless, the funniest part that definitely is viral-able is this:
Notice the URL?! I mean just obvious do they want it to be? Or are dumb customers expected to appreciate the fact that there “exists a viral”…a sure sign of “creative brilliance” & “amazing campaign roll-out”!
Ahem..don’t miss the “Kitne Aadmi the..” question in the Q&A session..going by their liberal use of the concept, it seems Webchutney must be paying a retainer to Mr. Sippy!
Webchutney and Center Fresh aren’t the only ones…there are a million campaign landing pages that have URL stating the obvious…”www.xyz.com/campaign/microsite”-like URL’s are pretty common..
I do hope that better sense will prevail sooner than later as far as such freaky phenomenons are concerned!
6 Responses for "The “Viral” Mystery"
A viral by definition doesn’t always mean that you hide the brand until the very last moment. The point of the centerfresh viral wasn’t to build a suspense thriller. It’s about the creativity/interactivity applied which is suppose the form the basis for which it should be appreciated. I don’t know if you’ve checked out Milwaukee Best Light’s Lust for Bust but it’s been one of the most popular ones in its time, revealing the brand up front because it then carries that brand proposition onto the creative.
Agreed that the brand need not always be hidden. That is not the point of this post to begin with. However, most virals work when there is a layer of mystery that shrouds the campaign..else, its just an online marketing campaign to begin with!
WC, in this campaign’s case, started off by labeling a campaign “viral” (refer URL) – hello! you don’t begin with a “viral” in mind…any good campaign become viral via popularity and “spreadability”! So agency statements are “we created a campaign that became a hot viral” instead of “we created a viral campaign!!”
What was this – a response to the client’s “pl create a viral for us – or better – chief, we shall create a viral element in the campaign!” What is WC – an flu-ridden sneeze or a creative agency??
Also, virals are considered a “stealth marketing” weapon as people in general have aversions towards spreading the brand “word” at their expense. The lust for bust example is an online campaign that was released using SN as a platform to enable spread. You cant call it a pure viral!
It is not entirely appropriate to say that a ‘Viral Communication’ cannot be planned and executed. However, I do agree that calling the Centerfresh campaign a viral campaign was not the most appropriate thing to do either. The campaign is funny no doubt.
In my opinion the best way to put it is to say that ‘an online interactive communication for Centerfresh was created, that was propagated via refer-to-a-friend and mass mailing techniques’. The scale that it ultimately reaches will define whether it does become a viral.
DISCLAIMER: This is entirely my individual opinion and does not reflect the views of any other individual or organization.
“..most virals work when there is a layer of mystery that shrouds the campaign..”, “virals are considered a “stealth marketing” weapon as people…”
Now that sounds mighty opinionated…says who virals are supposed to be mysterious! VIRAL is the nature of the media, not content.
AND if you like an advertising communication – you TALK abt it – normal people DONT think they shouldnt popularize a brand – when we as consumers (not pseudo media intellectuals) like a VODAFONE or FEVICOL or whatever ad, we say we like it..WE dont shy away from praising it just because its an AD”)
Sorry to break it to you but ALL agencies are in the business of creating online campaigns which clients PAY for – not good samaritans who will waste billable hours for general amusement – actually we do that in house – but for internal consumption only
PEACE!
I believe that an agency cannot run entirely on the whims and fantacies of its own. Unfortunately; today in India, each and every brand wants to leverage 100% RoI of whatever medium it takes to advertise.
While the humor of a viral in its mysterious disclosure of the brand/product cannot be entirely denied, it is not mandatory to have the communication hidden till the end in case of all virals. In certain cases a brand can also be treated as an integral part of the communication since the beginning. And that’s upon the agency how well they can crack it. In such a case a brand is not only the ultimate thing but instead plays as an integral character inside the communication. In India, somehow, a viral is still considered as only a humurous way to advertise a brand’s communication where the identity is hidden till the end, rather, the charecteristics which it carries alongwith.
As of now, most of the virals in the Indian diasphora are not known becaue of the brand presence, rather a funny piece of communication which a Webchutney or any other agency is doing. I have come across numerous people who recall the viral very because of the humor it carries but donot remember the brand or the product behind it.
Without any offences to anyone, I believe that somewhere we have restricted our thoughts about a viral to a mysterious piece of communication which discloses the brand at the end. its high time that agencies need to give new definition to the term ‘viral’.
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